Strong Lobbyist, Weak Result

At least one of the named hospitals, Victory Memorial in Brooklyn, had tried rather strenuously to avoid making the list. Here’s a contract the hospital signed with the Staten Island-based lobbying firm, the Molinari Group, home of the former borough president.

Altogether, the hospital paid about $100,000 to the firm to lobby the state Department of Health, and specifically to raise the subject of a “possible hospital merger.”

So much for that.

It’s now up to Albany lawmakers to accept or reject the commission’s recommendations.